The best way to avoid a DUI this holiday season is to think ahead.
I have been defending the accused drunk driver since 1995. Countless people have sat in my office lamenting the fact that they could have avoided the DUI charge by deciding to hail a cab, call a friend or waiting for their sober friend to drive them home. It is my belief that the solution to drunk driving as a societal problem involves focusing on the prevention of the drunk driving situation. Let's make things easier for a person to make a good decision. Here are some tips...

A recent 10th District Court of Appeals decision in State v. Castle, 2012-Ohio-6028, decided on an interpretation of the Ohio Administrative Code that will allow the government to use both a BAC DataMaster or any other approved device to prosecute drunk driving cases in Ohio. The court determined only the limited issue of whether the issuance of an operator access card under Ohio Adm.Code 3701-53- 09(D) prohibits the operator from performing breath tests using an instrument for which the operator also has been issued either an operator or senior operator permit under Ohio Adm.Code 3701-53-09(B)."The BAC DataMaster and Intoxilyzer 8000 are...

On Friday, the Ohio State Highway Patrol issued a press release announcing their annual Christmas enforcement initiative. This year they have stuck with the familiar "Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over" theme. I expect that the effort will be accompanied by a full media blitz including radio and television commercials. Below is the full text of the press release. Patrol to target impaired drivers this Holiday Season
Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over
COLUMBUS – The Ohio State Highway Patrol will be out in full force this holiday season removing dangerous and impaired drivers in an effort to reduce fatal and injury crashes....

Drunken-driving deaths fell to a record low last year, according to data released by the U.S. Department of Transportation's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Fatalities in crashes involving drunken drivers declined 2.5 percent to 9,878 from the previous year and are down 53 percent since first measured in 1982.“This new data is encouraging, especially as we approach the holiday season when it is so important that we promote responsible drinking,” Beer Institute President Joe McClain said in a prepared statement. “We recognize that even with these record lows, more work remains to be done. Brewers and beer importers are committed to...

Charles M. Rowland II may be able to get your reinstatement fee lowered from $475.00 to $40.00. Whether or not he can do this is not decided until the end of the case. So Don’t Pay Right Away!
In Ohio, any person who operates a vehicle within the state of Ohio is legally presumed to have given his or her consent to a chemical test of their blood, breath, or urine to determine alcohol content if arrested for OVI (drunk driving). According to Ohio Revised Code 4511.191, if probable cause exists to believe that you are operating a vehicle while impaired (commonly called a DUI) and you refuse to take a...

Controversial Jury Bill Dies In Committee
Ohio is one of 21 states that give the power to decide whether or not to have a jury trial solely to the defendant. Thus, a defendant can, at any point, decide against a jury trial and opt for a trial only to the judge. This is often done in serious OVI cases wherein a technical or scientific point is the most salient point. It is particularly apt when a defendant wants to avoid allowing the prosecution to enflame the jury with sympathetic evidence of injuries or in cases where the defendant has a lengthy...

This page has long maintained that the current "Standardized Field Sobriety Test" procedure is fraught with uncertainty and open to subjective interpretation. A federal investigation has been launched against Utah Highway Patrol Cpl. Lisa Steed for civil rights violations. Steed has been accused of arresting people for DUI who were sober. Two judges have found Steed lied on the witness stand and a 2010 memo suggesting she was falsifying arrest reports has emerged. While the vast majority of law enforcement officers are hard-working and dedicated to protecting the public from drunk drivers, this officer may have used her discretion to abuse innocent citizens....

When you are accused of a DUI/OVI in Ohio, the breath test machine is presumed to be perfect. What is more, your attorney cannot challenge presumed flaws in the machine or the weakness in the science supporting the machine. Such challenges are limited by a 1984 Ohio Supreme Court ruling (State v. Vega) holding that once the Ohio Department of Health certifies a machine, it becomes valid and the defendant loses the ability to argue defenses based on the underlying science of the machine. This author has made it a long-standing goal to fight this case and has done so for...

Ohio appears ready to pass a requirement that judges consider a persons' military service when deciding a sentence in a criminal case. Sub. S.B. 330, proposed by Senator Joe Schiavoni would apply to both misdemeanor and felony charges. "They have been through things that most of us haven't," Schiavoni said. "It's so, so important we consider that before they get thrown into jail and their problems aren't handled properly." Schiavoni says the bill has bipartisan support from both legislators and judges.Here is one version of the key language in the bill requiring consideration of military service at sentencing:
(F) The sentencing court...

As we have long warned in this blog, MADD and its allies in government are working hard to implement harsh measures that will test every person who gets into a car without their consent for alcohol impairment. Yesterday, the National Transportation Safety Board has officially urged every state to "require all convicted drunken drivers, including first-time offenders, to use devices that prevent them from starting a car’s engine if their breath tests positive for small (non-impairing) levels of alcohol." This would require a legislative change in Ohio OVI law which now requires such devices only for multiple offenders.The board also urged...